Foreskin's Lament
Author | : Shalom Auslander |
Publisher | : Penguin |
Total Pages | : 395 |
Release | : 2007-10-04 |
ISBN-10 | : 9781101217634 |
ISBN-13 | : 1101217634 |
Rating | : 4/5 (34 Downloads) |
Book excerpt: A New York Times Notable Book, and a “chaotic, laugh riot” (San Francisco Chronicle) of a memoir. Shalom Auslander was raised with a terrified respect for God. Even as he grew up and was estranged from his community, his religion and its traditions, he could not find the path to a life where he didn’t struggle daily with the fear of God’s formidable wrath. Foreskin’s Lament reveals Auslander’s “painfully, cripplingly, incurably, miserably religious” youth in a strict, socially isolated Orthodox Jewish community, and recounts his rebellion and efforts to make a new life apart from it. His combination of unrelenting humor and anger renders a rich and fascinating portrait of a man grappling with his faith and family.